(Football news) Real Madrid have become 35 time La Liga champions with 4 games still left to play. They now have 9 more league titles than arch rivals Barcelona. The season has been almost perfect for Los Blancos who needed this title after going trophyless last season. The league win meant that Carlo Ancelotti became the first manager to win all the top 5 leagues in Europe i.e Serie A with AC Milan, Premier League with Chelsea, Ligue 1 with PSG, Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and now La Liga with Real Madrid. 

Real Madrid started the campaign with 5 wins and 2 draws in the first 7 games. Los Blancos were handed their first league defeat of the season by Espanyol. The Merengues then went on an incredible run of 11 games undefeated (9 wins and 2 draws) including a 2-1 win at the Camp Nou against Barcelona and a 2-0 home win against Atletico Madrid. The unbeaten streak was broken away at Getafe where Madrid lost 1-0. After that came another unbeaten streak of 8 games (6 wins and 2 draws). Real Madrid were in great form domestically and in Europe but there was a blip in the middle when a Benzema-less Real Madrid lost 4-0 to Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti was heavily criticised for the loss and the season could've been derailed but as it turned out it was just a fluke. Los Blancos then won 5 games on the trot to seal the La Liga title. 

All this while Real Madrid have been doing well in Europe as they are in the UCL semi finals. Carlo Ancelotti has brought an attacking spark back to the team that was very defensive under Zinedine Zidane. During his appointment, Ancelotti said that Benzema is the only player who scored a lot of goals last season and he wants to make sure that the wingers score more goals. The Italian has managed to do exactly that as Vinicius Jr and Marco Asensio, who were first choice wingers for majority of the season have scored a combined 24 goals this season. The midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric have once again been at the centre of all good things. The trio just continue to season after season and defy all the odds to stay at the top. Having said that, Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga have also been good whenever called upon. The pair have pushed the first choice midfielders with their incredible performances. 

Real Madrid lost their legendary centre back pairing of Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane last summer. The void left by them has been filled by David Alaba and Eder Militao. Even though Real Madrid have leaked goals but in the big moments, the pair have stepped up and been solid. Luckily for them they have the best goalkeeper in the world between the sticks. Thibaut Courtois has kept 14 clean sheets in La Liga this season and only Alex Remiro from Real Sociedad has more. Courtois this season has been excellent in goal, making so many incredible saves. The Belgian makes at least one save in every match to rescue Real Madrid. Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy have been good in patches but constant injuries have left Ancelotti without his first choice full backs. In their absence, Nacho and Lucas Vazquez have always stepped up and delivered. Club captain Marcelo in his last season as a Real Madrid player has found himself to be 3rd choice left back. He has had a few good moments but his leadership has been exemplary.

Real Madrid this season have relied heavily on Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr. Benzema has 26 goals in 11 assists in the League this season while Vinicius Jr has 14 goals and 9 assists. Karim Benzema has been in incredible form for the past 4 years now but has now exploded to another level. He has produced so many moments of magic this season and has often single handedly won games for Real Madrid. Vinicius last season and this season are two completely different players. The Brazilian's improvement graph has been very steep and if he continues to deliver he will surely become one of the best players in the world soon. Marco Asensio and Rodrygo have had a few very good performances this season but none were able to cement their place in their place in the side.

Fringe players like Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale, Luka Jovic, Mariano Diaz, Isco and Dani Ceballos haven't had much game time as all of them have been affected by injuries. Dani Ceballos has been the epitome of professionalism this season. After initially not finding a place even as a substitute, Ceballos kept working hard. In the limited substitute appearances he got the Spaniard gave some impressive performances after which he earned back to back league starts towards the end. Now rumours in Spain indicate that Ancelotti wants Ceballos to continue with the club which is incredible news for the player. 

Overall it's been an incredible season for Real Madrid but they still have the UCL semi final against Manchester City where they have to come back from a goal down in the 2nd leg at the Bernabeu. The season is the last one for club legends Isco, Marcelo and Gareth Bale who may get to enjoy some minutes of the 4 remaining league games. Next season, Real Madrid are expected to be even better with the potential signings of Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rüdiger and Aurélien Tchouaméni.

Also read: Will Reece James even consider leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid?